Finding my way to my favorite neighborhood in my favorite city has been a long and circuitous path.

I started out growing up in New York City, but at a time when living in most neighborhoods in boroughs outside of Manhattan was almost suburban. Naturally, we had a dog – the faithful German Shepherd dog that I grew up with. Before I left for college we had lost that first dog and had an Alaskan Malamute. But, again, that was living in a place with a fenced back yard and at a time that the most was expected was that you “curb your dog”, not clean up after it.

After college and graduate school I ended up in the Philadelphia area, in a neighborhood just on the other side of the Philadelphia City limits which was a cross between an urban setting and a small town. Again, not quite urban, with a back yard for the dog that my son and I were finally able to pursuade my then husband, later ex, to keep. She was a stray I found on my way home from work, who, once cleaned up and well fed turned out to be a beautiful German Shepherd, that my son grew up with.

The next step was a move, on my own out to rural Virginia, where I somehow (through involvement with the local SPCA’s) ended up with assorted adopted and foster dogs, many elderly, though I stuck with my vow not to have more than 9 at any one time. Rural living with dogs is a whole other story – large fenced area, dog doors, the occasional gift of the ground hog or skunk that wandered into the dog area.

And now here I am, living in the heart of a city, with one dog, Aden, my 8 year old standard poodle, while running a dog walking and petsitting service. It has been quite an education and adventure. Living with dogs in the city (and their people) is a unique experience and will be the subject of many future posts.